Sayyaf issues demands

Muslim extremist guerrillas holding 21 hostages of various nationalities in the southern island of Sulu issued yesterday their first written demands for the release of the captives.

In the nearby island-province of Basilan, government forces are planning to fire tear gas into a network of tunnels in a rebel jungle fortress where another band of Abu Sayyaf gunmen was believed holed up along with another batch of 27 hostages, consisting of school children, teachers and a Catholic priest.

Government negotiator Nur Misuari rejected the rebels' demands, saying they were impractical. "There are some loose ends they (Abu Sayyaf rebels) still have to tie," he said.

The guerrillas were asking for the return of barter trading in the South, a ban on large fishing boats to protect local fishermen, and full implementation of the 1976 Tripoli Agreement which provided for a 13-province Muslim autonomous region.

A local radio reporter said the rebel group has also sought the involvement of the Libyan ambassador to Manila, a United Nations representative and the ambassadors of the hostages' country of origin in the negotiations.

The demand triggered suspicions among some senators that the Sipadan kidnappings were part of a larger terror campaign being waged by international terrorist Osama bin Ladin to secure the release from prison of Ramzi Yosef, mastermind of the World Trade Center bombing in New York in December 1994.

Senators Robert Barbers and Rodolfo Biazon believed that the Abu Sayyaf will raise the demand for the freedom of Yousef and other jailed terrorists once negotiations start for the release of the hostages in Sulu.

The government rejected earlier an Abu Sayyaf demand to replace Misuari, himself also a former rebel leader-turned governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

A member of Misuari's team also denied rumors that the separatist guerrillas have threatened to execute the hostages, particularly the foreigners.

"It's not true...they (hostages) would not be beheaded. The decision of the group is that they are going to negotiate," the source said.

A man who identified himself as spokesman for the Abu Sayyaf said last Friday they would kill the foreign captives if Misuari is not replaced as government emissary.

Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado and other government officials have given their full support to Misuari who, in turn, said he would quit if the spokesman was really speaking for the Abu Sayyaf.

Misuari has insisted that the rebels put their demands in writing "so I would not be caught in a trap."

He said the rebels could easily change their demands if they were not in black and white.

Misuari also said he would quit as government negotiator once the military starts an offensive against the hostage-takers.

"As soon as there is no more room to maneuver peacefully, and that the ultimate option (offensive) is already in place, then that is the end of my mission as a peaceful negotiator on behalf of the government," Misuari said.

He also said the written demands must be signed by all the Sulu-based Abu Sayyaf leaders.

Citing reports by his men, Misuari said 19 hostages were being kept by the Abu Sayyaf in hinterland Barangay Bandang which is barely seven kilometers away from the Talipao town proper.

He said the two other hostages were segregated and being held in an undisclosed place.

The 21 hostages were snatched last Sunday from the famous diving resort of Sipadan island off Borneo. The group consisted of 10 Malaysians, three Germans, two Frenchmen, two South Africans, two Finns, one Lebanese and one Filipina.

Freelance television journalist Arlyn de la Cruz who was invited by the Abu Sayyaf to their lair in Bandang to see for herself the hostages, reported that the captives were alive but mostly sick of diarrhea due to unsafe drinking water.

"They are living in a small hut with no toilet. They are not healthy. They are weak," De la Cruz said.

Presidential Adviser for Mindanao Lee Ping We was reportedly making arrangements for the delivery of 30 boxes of medicines to the sick hostages

Military authorities expressed optimism that soldiers would soon be able to rescue the 27 hostages being held for over a month now by Abu Sayyaf guerrillas in their hideout in Sumisip town in Basilan.

This developed as government forces have totally captured the Camp Abdurajak, a major Abu Sayyaf headquarters in the province.

Air Force helicopters have landed inside the rebel camp.

"Our helicopters were able to land in Camp Abdurajak, but our troops found no traces of the rebels and the hostages. They must have been hidden inside the tunnels in the area," said Maj. Gen. Diomedio Villanueva, commander of the Armed Forces' Southern Command based in Zamboanga City.

Villanueva said the troops, consisting of the elite Scout Rangers, have captured all 20 bunkers and other structures within the rebel camp as of 8 a.m. yesterday.

Villanueva said the troops were poised to comb the tunnels where the rebels, along with the hostages, were believed to have sought refuge from the relentless week-long shelling.

He said the offensive would be pursued until the hostages have been rescued.

Villanueva ruled out any chances of escape by the rebels, saying Camp Abdurajak has been blockaded by the military.

"All our coastlines are well-guarded. It would be impossible for them to move from one area to another. They must be inside the tunnel," Villanueva said.

Southcom spokesman Lt. Col. Hilario Atendido said 10 soldiers were killed and some 50 others were wounded since the offensive was launched last April 20.

He estimated the number of fatalities on the enemy side at about 50.

National Security Adviser Alexander Aguirre told reporters in Zamboanga City that at least two battalions of soldiers were involved in the siege on Camp Abdurajak.

Asked if the children might be hurt by the tear gas, Army Col. Ernesto de Guzman said they would only be stunned.

Military officials said they believe the rescue operation may be over in another day.

"We are now at the stage of denouement of this particular crisis," Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado said.

Abu Sayyaf spokesman Abu Ahmad said over a local radio that 27 hostages were with them.

Some military official said the abductions in Malaysia could be a diversionary tactic by the rebels to try to get the troops to call off their offensive in Basilan.

In another development, Manila-based Muslim youths warned that the renewed hostilities in the South could expand into a religious war if the government continued recruiting Christians to fight the Muslims in Mindanao.

Some 200 members of the Bangsamoro Youth Advocates Alliance (BYAA) staged a rally in front of Malacañang to urge the Estrada administration to call off the military offensive against the Abu Sayyaf rebels in Basilan and Sulu.

"We are appealing to the Estrada administration to stop the hostilities. The military solution is not the solution," said BYAA leader Maulana Balane. --